Margins of Modernity: Cultural Erosion and Urban Transformation in Kashmir

In this episode of InterLinked, we delve into the fragile intersections of identity, tradition, and urban change in Kashmir, exploring how communities rooted in place are negotiating the pressures of modernity. Shivali Yadav is in conversation with Najam Us Saqib, a researcher whose work brings together urban governance, participatory ethnography, and the lived realities of marginalized communities in Srinagar.Together, they unpack how development initiatives like the Smart City Mission impact traditional occupations, from the Hanji community’s deep ties to Dal Lake, to the Pathans' shifting linguistic identity. The conversation traces how assimilationist policies and top-down planning can lead to cultural erasure, and asks what it would mean to truly center community voices in imagining the future of the city.Drawing from his fieldwork and storytelling, Saqib reflects on the role of inclusive research in inculcating traditional forms of knowledge, and offers a grounded vision for how urban policy can engage with diversity rather than overwrite it. Tune in for a conversation that explores whose knowledge gets counted, whose identities are protected, and what it takes to make cities more just.

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